The Cycle of Civilization

The Cycle of Civilization
Man begins his existence in bondage, and rises:
from bondage through spiritual faith,
from spiritual faith to courage,
from courage to liberty,
from liberty to abundance,
from abundance to selfishness,
from selfishness to complacency,
from complacency to apathy,
from apathy to dependency,
from dependency back into bondage.

-Clarence Manion, dean of Nortre Dame law school (1941-1952) as quoted in “In whom do you trust?”, R.B. Thieme, Jr.

To keep a civilization going you need : Productivity, Knowledge, Frugality, Saving, Investing, Creativity, Innovation,  Risk, Accountability, Responsibility, Consequences, Communication, Sacrifice, Sharing, Contribution, Charity, Peace, and Care. If people, and the civilization they make up, are selfish, they will have a hard time doing the things they need to do to keep their civilization going.

http://www.gpire.com/2012/05/13/seven-social-burdens/

What Are The Middle Ages?

~500-1300 AD
The first part of this time period is usually called "The Dark Ages," because it is a time when the Roman Empire fell and people lost knowledge.  During the later part, there was a move toward morality and enlightenment, which lead to the Renaissance.

Fall Apart

Now that you've made a civilization, you know what is necessary for one to function.

Use that knowledge and tell me:  what could happen to your civilization that would make it fall apart?

My Civilization

Tell me about the ideas you have for your civilization so far.

Current Event

Tightrope

Rome Test

Answer 3 of the 5 questions. Use RARE.

1.  What is something you learned during our Rome unit that fascinated you?
2.  What is something you learned during our Rome unit that disgusted you?
3.  What is something you learned during our Rome unit that made you feel thoughtful?
4.  What is something you learned during our Rome unit that made you feel hopeful?
5.  If you could go back in time and visit one ancient civilization, would it be Rome?

Current Event

Lightning

God/Goddess

If you were a Roman god or goddess, what would your special powers be?  What would you look like?  Write 4-6 sentences about that.

Current Event

Small Car

What's In A Name?

How come Caesar got assassinated, but Augustus did not?
HINT:  It has to do with their titles...

Write 4-6 sentences about this topic.

Butter Makes You Fat?

We learned about the obesity spike in America, and we talked about what the media claimed in the past to be the "culprit."  Remember that even some of our best scientific resources were guessing that foods like real butter, red meat, grains, etc. were making America fat.  But does that agree with your common sense?  If those foods make us fat, why have they only been a problem from 1960-today?

Of course, we know that can't really be the answer.  Your question is:  should we ALWAYS trust what we read in articles, or hear on the news?  Use RARE to answer, and when giving an example, use something OTHER THAN the topic of obesity in America.

Current Event

Observant 10-Year-Old

Entertainment or Distraction?

One major reason why the Roman government instigated the gladiator fights and like entertainment was to distract the empire from what the government was up to.  Think about it:  citizens going to the Circus Maximus for free?  Does that sound like something the government did out of the goodness of their hearts?  No.  They knew people were less likely to rebel against a poorly run system if they were kept entertained and focused on something else.

So your question is: is our current government distracting us with anything today?  What might it be, and what might they be trying to draw our attention away from?  Answer using RARE.